SCOPUS

Passion Projects
Photo by Israel's Government Advertising Agency
aChord: Social Psychology for Social
Change – Translating Social Psychology
Research into Practice
Prof. Eran Halperin is a researcher of social psychology.
He applies psychological and political theories
and methods to investigating different aspects of intergroup
relations and conflicts.
On campus, Halperin heads the Psychology of
Intergroup Conflict & Reconciliation Lab, while
off-campus he founded and heads aChord: Social
Psychology for Social Change. aChord was founded
in 2016 to translate academic research into practical
tools for organizations working to create social change,
including combatting racism and discrimination.
The center’s vision is to promote equal, tolerant, and
respectful intergroup relations – both within Israeli
society and between Israel and its neighbors. To that
end, aChord conducts research, develops workshops
and trainings, designs tools and interventions, and
consults partner organizations to better understand
and address the psychological barriers that stand in
the way of optimizing their effectiveness.
Two of aChord’s main foci are employment and
education. In terms of the former, aChord promotes
the integration of Arab citizens of Israel into the
workforce by working with companies and job
applicants. During 2019/20, the center ran diversity
and inclusion trainings for 31 companies and
organizations, offering a total of 42 workshops in
which 550 people participated. Since the program’s
inception in 2016, a total of 1,800 participants have
gone through these trainings. Next, the center plans
to begin a similar process with the ultra-Orthodox
sector.
Working with aChord has changed how
“
we see people and how we build on the
strengths of individuals who are part of
this company.
”
T., CEO of a high-tech company
On the educational front, aChord works to promote
education for shared society in myriad schools all over
Israel. During 2019/20, aChord worked with 21 schools
and 20 teacher communities nationwide, working
directly with 3,800 students who participated in
workshops and other activities. Another 2,200 students
were impacted indirectly, through their teachers’
participation in aChord’s teacher communities.
I really enjoyed the classes. They gave
“
me the ability to see the bigger picture of
where I stand in the world. I recommend
having these classes in other schools
because they open your mind to new
opinions and thoughts.
”
N., student-participant
aChord staff presenting Tav Tikva Israelit (Standard for Israeli Hope) at the official residence of President Reuven Rivlin. aChord spearheads this
shared society program, which is a partnership with the President of Israel and the Lautman Fund.
The Living Lab in Memory of Noam Knafo z”l
Prof. Inbal Arnon (Psychology) studies the acquisition,
processing, and representation of language. Prof. Ariel
Knafo-Noam (Psychology) studies the development of
pro-social behavior and empathy among children.
In 2014 they founded Israel’s first and only Living Lab,
located in the Bloomfield Science Museum adjacent
to the Edmond J. Safra Campus. The Lab welcomes
visiting families, where the children participate in
a short, fun activity that teaches them about the
science of child development while simultaneously
contributing to it. While children participate in studies,
parents can discuss current research in the field of child
development with the Lab’s staff.
The Living Lab is a great example of
“
effective community outreach that also
generates cutting-edge science. It is a
win-win situation: we get to widen the
scope of our developmental research while
educating children (and parents) about the
beauty and importance of science.
”
Prof. Inbal Arnon
In founding the Lab, Arnon and Knafo-Noam aimed
to make developmental findings accessible to parents
and the community at large; conduct cutting-edge
developmental science; and expose children to scientific
research that involves people as a way of increasing
children’s interest in science.
To date, the Lab has hosted eight researchers from different
fields. In 2019/20 alone (when the pandemic forced the
museum to close for extensive periods of time), the Lab
hosted 15 separate studies. Over the years, findings from
the Lab have been the basis for 50 conference presentations
and 20 journal publications. The Lab has also trained
numerous undergraduate and graduate students how to
conduct developmental research.
The vision of the lab is to expand its
“
activities to include children from groups
underrepresented in research.
”
Prof. Ariel Knafo-Noam
Over 8,000 children have participated in these
activities, sparking conversations about science and
strengthening their affinity to the field. In addition, Lab
staff have talked with thousands of parents.
In terms of findings, Living Lab researchers were the
first to demonstrate that motivational principles shape
children’s values already at age five and that children’s
values at this age predict their generosity. Researchers
have added crucial evidence to the nature/nurture
debate by showing that children and adults play a
different role in the emergence of linguistic structure
(using a creative Chinese telephone game), and that
children’s statistical learning abilities change with age.
Photo by Yael Ilan
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